Anjony, Close Up

When we got to the château, Ken, Evelyn, and Linda were still back in town exploring the church, so Lewis, Callie, and I hung out for a while enjoying the views. Since there were no other people around, I let Callie off leash and she did a little exploring.

The original keep.

The original main entrance to the castle is in a private courtyard, so the tourist entrance is below and off to the side. We went into the tiny waiting room where the tours start and read the signs. The first tour of the day started at two p.m. It was around eleven-thirty when we read this. The tour lasted for an hour (or was it an hour and a half?), much more time than we wanted to spend on our limited visit.

View from below.

So we contented ourselves with just the exterior before heading back into town for lunch. In the meantime, we enjoyed the views from the castle of the valley below, the towers rising high above us, and the faint clang of cowbells in the distance.

A private entrance.

It wasn't long before our little group was reunited and we noticed that we were ready for lunch. We headed back to the Auberge de Tournemire just as it began to rain lightly. I put Callie in the car (the waitress said she was allergic to pet hair) and we settled in for a light lunch. Some of us had a crêpe, others a boudin, others the local potato specialty called truffade.

Going up.

Lunch was satisfying and not too filling and soon we were back on the road headed toward the peak of the Puy Mary, one of the highest of the local extinct volcanoes at 1,787 meters (5,862 feet). It was still foggy and misty and we didn't even realize we were on the mountain until we were close to the top.

Imposing.